Listers,

A new study shows that kids as young as 13 are already showing thickening of
artery walls.  Even worse is what the nutrition 'experts' blame; fat intake.
  We all know the real problem is all the sugar and starch kids suck down in
a day, which is barely mentioned!  Go to

http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/cholesterol000313.html

for more information.

In the meantime, what do our pals at the US Department of Agriculture plan
to do about all that excess fat?  Allow school lunches to include more soy
and less meat.  Go to


http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20000309_3766.html

to read one version of the story.  Another Reuters story appeared in the
Denver Rocky Mountain News recently.  Story subtitle?  'USDA permits greater
use of tofu to trim fat.'  At the same time, the feds will be trimming
nutrients.  The USDA "...will no longer require that soy be fortified with
iron and zinc, nutrients found in meat."  This version of the story also
states that "A standard soyburger, which contains no meat, would have 3
grams of fat, compared to 16 in a beef patty, and a significant amount of
calcium.  But the soyburger would have a third less protein that the beef
patty and less iron."

Hmmm, lemme get this straight.  Less fat, less protein.  I'm no
mathmetician, but wouldn't that mean more carbs?  When will The
Establishment figure this out?  Less fat and more carbs is the WORST thing
you can do to treat a weight problem!  Kids at risk for obesity and diabetes
will be royally screwed, as will kids whose diets are low in protein.  Your
average American teen eats Froot Loops for breakfast, a burger-fries-'n-Coke
school lunch, a couple of Twinkies on the way home from school and maybe one
serving of vegetables at dinner, followed by Coke and pizza over the
weekend.  Five soy patties a week will do approximately jack squat.

But gee, Dori, how do you really feel?  Actually, a little better now that
I've gotten this off my chest.  Is anyone else bothered by these stories, or
is it just me?

Dori Zook
Denver, CO
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